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Tekfur Sarayı (Palace of the Porphyrogenitus)

Tekfur Sarayı (Palace of the Porphyrogenitus)

Photo: Antoloji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Istanbul, Turkey
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1300
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Cultural

The palace is part of the Blachernae complex, where the Theodosian Walls meet the later walls of the Blachernae suburb. It is named after Constantine Palaiologos, a son of Michael VIII, and the article dates it to the late 13th century, or the late 13th or early 14th century. It names no builder or architect.

It has three stories of red brick and white marble with geometric decoration. The ground floor has a four-arched arcade onto a courtyard, and the top floor projects above the walls. The 1453 conquest damaged it heavily. It later held a sultan's menagerie, then a pottery workshop from 1719, a poorhouse and a bottle factory.

An extensive restoration in 2010 rebuilt the shell. The lead says it opened as a museum in 2021, while the body says 2019. The courtyard hosts concerts.

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